The present invention relates to a new and distinct tree variety of Prunus spp. more commonly known as chokecherry, which can be grown for use as a single trunk, ornamental shade tree.
Chokecherry plants are well known in the industry for their shrub-like appearance and for dominant root suckering leading to invasive growth habit. This growth habit has limited the use of chokecherry in the industry as an ornamental plant despite the other preferred characteristics of chokecherry plants, namely attractive burgundy foliage, thickets of branches for privacy and for wildlife habitat. The present invention, in contrast, meets the needs of providing qualities of a preferred ornamental chokecherry plant with the distinction of the complete absence of suckering; strong upright, uniformly broad and oval single trunk tree form; large, vibrant and glossy leaves that emerge green and mature into dark reddish-purple foliage; and strong hybrid vigor.
The present invention is a product of a discovery and selection in a cultivated seed orchard located in Helena, Mont. in July 1998 and subsequent propagation of the softwood cuttings from discovered plant by the inventor. The surrounding plants where the invention was found demonstrated characteristics typical of chokecherry plants in demonstration of prevalent suckering characteristics and multi-stem growth habit typical of the red leaf form of Prunus virginiana, which is in contrast to the discovered present invention.
While parentage of the present invention is unknown, the surrounding plants located nearby where the present invention was discovered may be the result of a conventional hybridization between the neighboring cultivated plants of the red leafed forms of Prunus virginiana and possibly Prunus padus. Prunus virginiana provides the distinctive red leaf coloration; therefore its contribution in the parentage of the claimed plant is considered probable. Patent status of the plants in the cultivated area is unknown.
Since the lineage of the present invention is unknown, comparison with known commercial varieties is drawn generally to the commercially available, related plant species. ‘P002S’ differs primarily from red leafed forms of Prunus virginiana plants by demonstrating the complete absence of root suckering as well as a strong upright, uniformly broad and oval, single trunk tree form; whereas Prunus virginiana exhibit extensive root suckering and multi-stem branching. Furthermore, ‘P002S’ is distinct from Prunus padus through the demonstration of non-typical smooth, glossy leaves that emerge green and mature into reddish-purple, and hybrid vigor.
The inventor selected and transported softwood cuttings of the discovered plant in July 1998 to another cultivated area in Fort Collins, Colo. where the present invention was observed for 10 years before beginning asexual propagation through vegetative cuttings in the spring of 2008.
The present invention has been asexually propagated in a controlled nursery environment for five generations through vegetative cuttings under the direction of the inventor. The generations of the new variety, ‘P002S’, have demonstrated that the combination of characteristics disclosed are stable and firmly fixed and are retained true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction. Additional testing has been conducted in nurseries in Minnesota (St. Paul) and Oregon (both Boring and Dayton), all beginning in 2009. Observations and characteristic data disclosed herein were collected in the summer of 2012 in Fort Collins, Colo.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this variety have not been applied for and ‘P002S’ has not been made publicly available or sold more than a year before the filing date of this application.